1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to clips for being removably fastened to the marginal edge portion of a sheet of flexible material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a removable grommet that is securable to a flexible sheet without penetrating the attached material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, it has been the general practice to provide sheets of flexible material, such as canvas covers and fiber-reinforced polymeric sheets and the like, with eyelets or grommets that are built in during fabrication and spaced along the sheet periphery to serve as tethering points for holding the cover in place in many well known indoor and outdoor applications.
There has arisen the need for readily converting plain flexible sheets of various sizes and material types into tetherable covers and the like by the use of grommet-like devices that can be removably secured at desired locations long the marginal edge of the sheet of material. It is further desired that such devices be attachable without having to pierce or otherwise alter the physical integrity of the material.
One prior development seeking to address this need is the removable anchor attachment device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,225,408 which employs pressure sensitive adhesive on the inner surfaces of a bifurcated anchor strap. It appears that successful use of such devices may be highly dependent on the quality of the adhesive bondinq made with the sheet material, which in turn must depend on such factors as surface texture, cleanliness, dryness, ambient temperature, etc. These and other devices that rely on adhesive may also be greatly limited regarding their reusability. Another type of device which may be suitable as an attachable tie-down anchor for flexible sheet materials, and which avoids the aforementioned limitations, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,305. While such device represents an improvement because it can be fastened in a non-intrusive manner, it too has drawbacks which stem primarily from the fact that two components, a male and a female, are required. With such dual piece designs there is concern for added inventory requirements, economical fabrication, versatility of application and ease of use.